3-D Printed Food Will Be A Total Godsend For The Elderly

Biozoon is a German company that's introduced "Smoothfood," in which it uses liquefied ingredients to 3-D print a variety of foods, and this could be a gamechanger for the senior care industry, we learn via Gizmodo.

In exactly the same way that hobbyist makers build contraptions by shaping plastic on their own 3-D printers, Biozoon extrudes liquefied meat, carbohydrates, and vegetables into ready-to-eat and easily chewed food items.

Successfully chewing and swallowing food is a common problem for the elderly — dysphagia is the medical name for this — but consider the second word in Biozoon Smoothfood's name. This stuff is designed to be easy to chew and swallow.

Gizmodo writes that six component foods are available for now — cauliflower, peas, chicken, pork, potatoes, and pasta — with more on the way.

For now the food is printed by the company and the sent to its destination. The long-term goal is to get these food printers people's homes, which will make it a snap to "cook up" an easily digested meal.

Here's what some of the food items look like:

"Gelled pumpkin."

Biozoon

"Gelled asparagus dish for people with difficulty chewing and swallowing."